Where Liberalism Is Alive and Well!

Go here to see the video, for some damn reason, my version of WordPress doesn’t like MSNBC’s embedded code. (curses under his breath)

This morning on Morning Joke Joe, Rev. Sharpton asked an excellent question, which prompted Governor Snyder to reveal how he feels about our right to elect our local leaders.

Rev. Al: …how do you deal with the fact that the “customers” as Kevin called them, feel disenfranchised. I mean, you made a unilateral decision. Their elected officials have really been, their power has been taken away and it undermines peoples right to vote because the only one who voted for Kevin was you. And this is something that is very disturbing that you have governors undermine the will of voters. There was s referendum last year that was opposed to this kind of action, you did it anyway.

Gov. Snyder: Reverend, if you look at it, the old law went away but we put in a new one that really was responsive to the issues that came up during that process. If you look at it, I’m also the elected official. I was elected by the people of Michigan, so there is an elected official responsible for this process and I think that is critically important.

Rev. Al: But what about the local elected officials, what about if I’m in Detroit, Rev. Charles Williams and others are raising this. In all due respect, and I voted for a city council and a mayor to represent me during this financial crisis. Now you bring in someone unelected, like in Pontiac, we had someone on the show who talked about an emergency manager came and sold the Silverdome for a half a million dollars that had been valued at several million dollars, over 200…I mean, Kevin has no one to answer to in the local constituency. That’s undemocratic. (emphasis mine)

Gov. Snyder: Blah, blah, blah….(my words)

If you want to know the details of what is happening in Michigan, go over to Eclectablog.com and spend some time in the archives, because Chris Savage has been all over this for many years and has the facts to back him up.

*Primal Scream*

Now that I got that out of the way, Governor Snyder’s response to Reverend Al’s first question is an admission that he thinks he was elected dictator of Michigan. How else can it be interpreted? He said, “I’m also the elected official”, which translates as, I have authority over local officials and I have the power to invalidate their elections. I am a supreme elected official, I take precedent over those peons.

It’s not just the goal of the law that’s offensive. House Republicans, stinging from a voter referendum last month that overturned the previous emergency financial manager act, have arrogantly inserted an almost $6 million appropriation into the new emergency financial manager law. By adding an appropriation, Republicans hope to make the law immune to another voter referendum.

It’s just one more example of the dirty tricks that Koch-financed Republicans across the country are pulling to privatize states and sell them off to their corporate buddies like the Koch brothers.

As Rachel Maddow so eloquently put it, Michigan is ground zero for politics in this country. A man who ran as a friendly nerd has pulled off his mask to reveal a megalomaniac who has passed a law that gives himself the power to appoint emergency financial managers and to usurp the elected officials of any town he deems to be in a state of financial emergency. This is the most blatant power grab by a governor in our nations history. He is attempting to sell off our state to corporations and give those same corporations more tax breaks while he cuts programs and tax credits for the elderly, children, women, families and basically anyone who isn’t a member of his rich network of elites. If you thought Scott Walker was a nut, meet Governor Rick Snyder, if you haven’t already.

This man mounted a campaign for governor where he saturated the airwaves with ads portraying himself as a friendly, tough nerd that featured his teenage daughter fawning over her nerdy dad and painting him as this nice moderate guy. This nice guy very soon showed us what a con job his campaign really was.

The mayor of Benton Harbor and the City Commission are taking a stand against this unprecedented power grab by the most extreme governor our nation has ever seen. From Eclectablog…(emphasis mine)

Whereas, The City of Benton Harbor declares the appointment of an Emergency Manager a violation of Article I §1, which states that all political power is inherent in the people and that government is instituted for their equal benefit, security and protection.

Whereas, The City of Benton Harbor declares the appointment of an Emergency Manager a violation of Article I §3, which allows the citizens of Benton Harbor the right to petition the government for redress of grievances.

Whereas, The City of Benton Harbor declares the appointment of an Emergency Manager a violation of Article VII §22, which affords Benton Harbor citizens the the power and authority to frame, adopt and amend its charter, and to amend an existing charter of the city or village heretofore granted or enacted by the legislature for the government of the city or village. Each such city and village shall have power to adopt resolutions and ordinances relating to its municipal concerns, property and government, subject to the constitution and law.

Whereas, The City of Benton Harbor declares the appointment of an Emergency Manager a violation of Article VII §34, which states that the provisions of this constitution and law concerning counties, townships, cities and villages shall be liberally construed in their favor.

Whereas, The City of Benton Harbor declares the appointment of an Emergency Manager a violation of Article IX §2, which provides the citizens of Benton Harbor the right of taxation with representation.

Resolved, The appointment of an Emergency Manager is in direct violation of the Michigan Constitution and therefore demands the removal of said Emergency Manager immediately.

Resolved, That the Benton Harbor City Commission is hereby directed to forward copies of this resolution to Governor Rick Snyder, State Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville, Speaker of the House Jase Bolger, State Senator John Proos, and State Representative Al Pscholka.

And the gall of this man knows no limit. More from Eclectablog about the shamelessness of this horrible man.

This Saturday, May 7, 2011, is the Blossomtime Grand Floral Parade. As I previously reported, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder will be the “Grand Marshal” of the parade. I have also learned that Representative Al Pscholka, the father of Michigan’s odious Emergency Financial Manager Law, will also be in the parade. The appearance of both of these men in the parade is an audacious display of arrogance and chutzpah. It smacks of a conqueror reviewing the lands recently vanquished.

The arrogance and hubris of Governor Rick Snyder has no bounds. He is clearly governing as a one term governor, intent on privatizing as much of our state and selling it off to his corporate friends as fast as he can. He has wasted no time in going after the poorest people in our state, those with the least amount of political power, those with the least of everything, the people he can kick while they are down with no fear of them getting up and fighting back. He is the definition of a bully. I don’t think he bargained for the rest of the state fighting back against him.

We need everyone’s help in this battle to save our state from being sold off to the highest, or lowest bidder. It’s time to STAND UP! Show your support for the people of Michigan and turn out on Saturday, May 7 in Benton Harbor, Michigan – 1 pm. Eclectablog has a map of the parade route.

WE MUST ELECT DEMOCRATS IN 2012 TO STOP THIS MAN FROM THE PRIVATIZATION OF OUR GREAT STATE OF MICHIGAN.

What is going on in my home State of Michigan is nothing short of outrageous. There really are no adjectives strong enough to describe it, unless you lace them with profanity, which I’m containing myself from doing right now. The national treasure, Rachel Maddow, has thankfully been following this issue and bringing the only national spotlight to this atrocity that I’m aware of. The blogs and Twitter are on fire. When you attack people’s basic rights to representation and put in place a corporate structure for that community – where the assets (land, parks, utilities) are up for auction to the highest bidder, or lowest bidder in some cases, then you are going to cause a backlash. People are rising up and taking action. This will not stand!

We talked a month ago about the remarkable power grab underway in Michigan, where newly-elected Gov. Rick Snyder (R) is now exercising his power to unilaterally fire elected officials, dissolve entire local governments, and impose local dictators “Emergency Managers” without any input from voters. One of the proponents of this new policy called it “financial martial law” — and that was intended to be a defense of the scheme.

[…]

I hope readers will take a few minutes to watch this segment, but there was something Rachel said towards the end of the story that stood out for me: “What is new here is that this state has decided that local elections, locally elected officials are a problem that has to be done away with, that democracy is in the way of fixing problems in the United States now, of making things more efficient, particularly in poor places. Not that democracy is the way we fix problems but that democracy is the problem and it therefore needs to be sidestepped for efficiency sake, for our own good. Governor knows best.

Who The Hell Am I!

I’m a liberal that is extreme in some ways and not in others. I support President Obama and make no apologies for it. I think he has done a phenomenal job, especially when you consider that he inherited a huge mess and has faced unprecedented opposition from a lazy & desperate Republican Party. I’m a film producer/director/editor, adjunct professor, technician, media critic and photographer when I’m not reading left wing blogs and typing on this one. – On Twitter @ExtremeLiberal or Email at liberalforreal (at) gmail.com

Own An Important Part Of American History!

Cicely Tyson narrates this award winning documentary that tells the story of African American migration from the old south to the prosperous north. Winner of 5 Awards including "Best Film" at the Astoria International Film Festival, the "Paul Robeson Award" at the Newark Black Film Festival and "Best Film Relating To The Black Experience" at the XXV International Black Cinema Berlin/Germany!